Ignition
by Einna Fletcher
Summary: When a guarded black-haired boy meets a gritty pink-haired girl, expectations aren't always reality. AU
1. Start

Sasuke eyed his car, which was currently up on a lift at the back of a large garage. It had been here for over a week already, but he'd heard that this was the best repair shop in town. _They'd better live up to their reputation. _He couldn't see the person working on it, but considering the value of the model, he assumed it was one of their best mechanics.

"Are you almost finished with it?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's just about done. It'll be another day or two at the most." A girl's voice came from beneath the car, and then she pushed herself out.

He stared at her. The first thing he noticed immediately was her hair, which was shockingly pink and looked strangely natural. She looked at him for a second and then got off the roller seat. She looked about his age, and was wearing a gray tank top and jeans spotted with grease stains. "Hi. You're Sasuke Uchiha, I'm guessing?" Her eyes were a mesmerizing shade of green.

"You're a girl." He said, and then cursed himself for how stupid he sounded. Then again, since when were girls like her good at fixing cars, except in ridiculous action movies?

Her eyes narrowed. "And?"

"You know what you're doing?" He asked skeptically.

"Seriously?" She crossed her arms. "No, I just spent an hour under your car to mess it all up. Just so you could look at my boobs when I came back out. Because girls who work on cars are supposed to be _super sexy_, aren't they?"

He hadn't been expecting that. At all.

"I didn't mean it like that." He said irritatedly. "I was just surprised."

"Right." She said.

"Sakura, is something going on?" A man came around the corner. Sasuke recognized him as Kakashi Hatake, the owner of the shop. He had a bandana over the lower half of his face.

"Nope, it's all fine, Kakashi. Just the usual sexist bullshit."

He sighed. "Why don't you go check on Iruka with that battery problem? He was having some trouble."

"Yeah, sure." She snatched a rag off the floor and disappeared around the corner.

The man stuck out his hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kakashi Hatake, I own this place."

"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke said.

"Sakura has to put up with a lot from new customers, but she's one of the best we've got." Kakashi said. "I'd only trust her or myself with your car. There's a lot of temperamental stuff down there."

"Hn." Sasuke frowned and looked at his car. "So a day or two?"

"Should be a day. But we're pretty busy right now. Come back Saturday morning, it'll be done. We can give you the final statement then."

"Good. Thanks a lot."

"No problem."

Sasuke made his way back to the front of the shop and then out to the car, where Naruto was waiting.

"How's it coming?" His best friend asked. The blond boy was lounging lazily in the driver's seat of his car.

Sasuke shrugged and got into the passenger seat. "Two days."

"Hey, that's not bad, teme!" Naruto started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"There's a girl working on it." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan. Pink hair, right?"

Sasuke turned to him, frowning. "You _know_ her?"

"Yeah, we went to elementary school together, we were friends. But she went to KCHS, not the Academy. Jeez, I haven't seen her in forever! I guess I forgot she worked here. Is she still super beautiful?"

"Hn."

"Aw come on, teme! Just admit it." Naruto grinned.

"Shut up, dobe." Even Sasuke knew that super beautiful didn't even begin to cover it.

* * *

Naruto dropped Sasuke off at the repair shop early on Saturday morning. He waited in the front room for a few minutes before Kakashi Hatake came out, several minutes late.

"You're early!" He said. "Follow me."

Sasuke followed him to the back of the shop. Music echoed through the large garage and there were several people around. Kakashi opened a door that led to the back parking lot. And there was his Jaguar, freshly washed and gleaming.

"I'll go over everything with you and then I can give you the statement." Kakashi said.

"Yo, Kakashi! Mr. Akimichi's here and he needs to talk to you!" A guy with brown hair who looked about Sasuke's age stuck his head out from the door of the shop.

"Alright, Kiba, thanks." Kakashi looked back at Sasuke and then said to the guy, Kiba, "Get Sakura for me, will you? I have a feeling the discussion with Mr. Akimichi will take a while."

"Yeah, sure." Kiba turned around and Sasuke heard him yell, "Hey, Sak! Kakashi wants you in the back lot!"

A moment later, Sakura appeared. Her hair was in a ponytail again, but today she wore a black Hatake Auto Repair t-shirt.

She saw Sasuke and immediately narrowed her eyes. "What is it, Kakashi?"

"I need you to go over the repair details for Mr. Uchiha's car. I have to talk to Mr. Akimichi."

"I'm in the middle of a rewiring." Sakura said.

"And _I_ have a customer waiting." Even with the bandana covering his mouth, Sasuke could see that Kakashi was smiling.

To his surprise, Sakura gave him a slight smile. "Alright, you win." She brushed her hands off on her jeans and came out to them.

"I'll leave you to it, then." Kakashi went back inside with one final glance back to them.

"Listen," Sasuke said abruptly before really realizing what he was doing, "What I said last week, I didn't mean it the way you took it."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Alright. It's fine. I get it all the time, but occasionally it's just one time too many."

"Hn."

"Anyway, can we get started? I've got a ton of stuff to do today." She pulled up the hood of his car. "And before you ask if Kakashi should be doing this, I did all of the work, so you can trust what I'm saying."

"Didn't I just apologize?" He said irritatedly.

"Apologies have nothing to do with real opinions." She said simply.

Then the pink-haired girl, who seemed the least likely person to know anything about cars, proved all his expectations wrong by launching into a technical explanation of everything she'd done on his car. Sasuke prided himself on his knowledge of cars, but some of the stuff she was explaining he had no idea existed.

She also looked completely confident in everything she was saying, and was completely absorbed. When she finished, his male pride was slightly hurt: a pink-haired girl knew way more about cars than he did.

"Understand everything?" Sakura said with a slight grin that told him she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Yeah. You know a lot." He admitted grudgingly.

She smiled. "Well, I'm glad you think I'm worthy of your Jaguar now."

"Hn."

"Alright, I'll take you back to Kakashi's office so you can get your bill. It's not going to be that cheap, but you've probably figured that out already."

"Yeah. Thanks." He said irritatedly.

She led the way back into the shop, ponytail swinging slightly. Behind the front room was a spacious office with pictures of cars and some people pinned up all over the back wall.

"You in a hurry? Kakashi's taking a long time."

Sasuke shrugged.

"Okay…Well, I can find the cost summary if you want."

She sat down at the desk and started to rifle through the contents of a large file cabinet. "Uchiha, right? Here it is." She handed him a few sheets of paper.

He took it and read it over. Expensive, but not as expensive as he'd expected, which was always a good thing. He started to fill out the required sections and then looked up at her suddenly. She raised her eyebrows.

"You don't know a guy named Naruto Uzumaki, do you?" He asked, without knowing what made him say it.

To his surprise, she laughed, a real laugh that he immediately wanted to hear again. "Naruto? Wow, I haven't thought about him in a while. Is he a friend of yours? That would surprise me."

"Aa. So you _do_ know him?"

"Yeah, he used to ask me out all the time in middle school." She smiled. "We were friends. We sort of drifted apart in high school, though. I went to KCHS." She shrugged.

"Where are you, KU?" She asked suddenly.

Sasuke nodded. He was going to be a sophomore at Konoha University. He wondered briefly if she went there too, but figured he'd know, since he'd never heard Naruto talk about her before. Why hadn't he ever said anything about her? Sasuke wondered. Despite all of his reservations, this Sakura girl was making a space in his mind that he couldn't seem to get rid of, and he didn't really know why. It was something about her, and not just the fact that she was ridiculously beautiful…He couldn't say hot, because that description didn't seem good enough. And he'd only ever seen her in dirty work clothes.

He wondered if he had a boyfriend. Maybe that brown-haired guy in the shop.

She was looking at him with an expression that was hard to read.

"You want to sign it, or wait for Kakashi?" She asked him, and he realized his pen was frozen over the line for his signature.

He scribbled his signature.

"Kakashi'll send you the bill, if you don't have any other questions." Sakura said.

"Alright. Thanks."

"No problem." She opened the door and led the way out. "Let the Jaguar warm up slowly, about ten minutes before you go anything above forty."

"Hn. Right."

She walked with him back into the body shop and waited in the doorway for him to go back to his car.

"Thanks." He said, cursing how awkward he probably sounded.

"No problem." She turned and went back into the shop.

Sasuke went out and got into his car, which felt peacefully familiar. It started smoothly, no squeaking or anything, and as he started to drive he realized there really was a discernible difference. _She was good_, he realized. _Really good._

Her face and her smile stayed in his mind that night, and in the following days. And Sasuke realized it wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

**A/N: **_So t__his story started because of a random idea but also because I wanted to write something that completely contradicts the typical 'good girl Sakura meets bad boy Sakura' idea (which is ridiculously overused). And I just wanted to write a really badass Sakura (not that she's ever _not_ badass, but still. Her character gets dumbed down so often). __For any of you coming from B(P)B, it's much more immediate sasusaku (lol). This_ is definitely a gritty story; M for language and eventual sexiness if I'm brave enough haha. _Anyway, hope you enjoy and tell me what you think. _

_Thanks for reading :)_


	2. Met

Sasuke's bathroom faucet was spluttering sadly and he cursed. _You'd think in a building like this, there wouldn't be plumbing problems_. He opened the cabinet under the sink to examine the fixtures and noticed that one of the bolts was loose, which had to be the problem. Sasuke knew enough about basic repairs to avoid hiring a plumber.

The only problem was that he didn't have the right tools.

Sasuke twisted to look at the rest of the pipe, and Sakura's face came into his mind for the nth time that week. Jesus. What was wrong with him?

He had to do something about this. Because no matter what he tried, he couldn't forget her.

Then suddenly, he remembered that there was a discount hardware shop attached to the repair garage. It probably sold old tools that the mechanics didn't need anymore, but he needed a wrench and (he would never admit this) it gave him an excuse to go back there.

Sasuke got in his car and started driving with no real idea of what he was going to say. It was a ridiculously stupid plan, but he just wanted to talk to her again.

* * *

He approached the little store to the side of the shop. _You're a fucking idiot_, he thought to himself angrily. What was he going to do if she wasn't there, barge into the garage and demand to talk to her or something?

Since when was he like this? The last thing that was supposed to have power over Sasuke Uchiha was _girls. _Real romance, other than meaningless hook-ups, wasn't something that had ever entered his mind before this. It had been fourteen _days_, and everything had changed. And all because of stupid pink hair and green eyes and _something about her._

Whatever. Too late to go back now. Sasuke pushed open the door, which tinkled with a little bell.

And there she was, standing at the counter, and he'd gotten lucky for once.

She recognized him immediately, because she raised her eyebrows. "Wow. You're the last person I would've expected to see here."

"I need a torque wrench." He said, ignoring the jab.

"Not for your car, right?" She frowned.

"Of course not. Plumbing problems."

"Sure. Here, I'll find one." Sakura came out from behind the counter. Her shirt was riding up slightly and he saw a sliver of her back.

She tugged her shirt down and bent down to rummage in one of the bins. "Does this work?" She handed him a torque wrench in reasonably good condition.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Ten bucks." She went back behind the counter to ring it up and give him a receipt. "Do you want a bag?"

"No. Listen," He hated himself but he was just going to ask her. "You want to go out for dinner sometime?"

Her mouth quirked upward and he knew what she was going to say. "Sorry, I have a boyfriend." Or, "No, thanks. I'm, uh, not single."

But instead, she surprised him yet again. "Yeah, sure, what the hell."

"Really?" He asked, forgetting to hide his surprise. He should be playing it cool.

"Only because you're friends with Naruto. So you're probably not a total asshole." There was a slight smile playing around her lips.

"Hn."

"I'm off Thursday night, if that works for you. I can meet you somewhere."

"You know Ichiraku's?" It wasn't exactly the nicest restaurant in town, but Sasuke didn't want to go somewhere formal.

"Do _I_ know Ichiraku's? I'm surprised _you_ know it."

Alright, so she wasn't afraid to make fun of him. But it wasn't in an annoying way, because everything she said was true.

"Yeah, I know it." He said, narrowing his eyes. "Seven o clock?"

"Sure."

"Hn. Okay, see you then."

"See you."

* * *

He got there early (Sasuke was always early, on principle), which was good, because Sakura showed up early as well.

She was wearing a pair of whitewashed skinny jeans, a dark blue tank top, and a black leather-y jacket. Her hair was tied in a low ponytail and she looked so pretty he wondered if guys fell at her feet everywhere she went and why the hell she didn't have a boyfriend.

"Hey," she said, giving him just a slight smile.

"Hi." He said. "You look…nice." _  
_

"Yeah, well, the absence of grease tends to go a long way. Just don't stare at my boobs all night."

"Wasn't going to." He muttered.

"Right." She grinned at him and led the way into the restaurant.

They got a table next to a window. Ichiraku's was a glorified sports bar, known for its ramen and not much else. Still, it was nice enough, and the music and TVs weren't so loud that you couldn't have a conversation.

He glanced over the menu and then at Sakura, who was perusing her own menu. She didn't miss it, looking up to meet his eyes and raising her eyebrows.

_Jesus. _She saw everything, didn't she? Sasuke was beginning to wonder what he'd gotten himself into, even though he couldn't help being drawn in by…well, everything about her.

Sasuke looked back down at his menu.

A waitress came by to take their orders.

"Pork ramen." Sasuke said.

"I'll have the chicken caesar salad. Thanks." Sakura said, giving the waitress her menu.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He hadn't pegged Sakura as the kind of girl who would order salads when she went out with guys.

As soon as the waitress left, Sakura turned to Sasuke with narrowed eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. I didn't get it because I'm with a guy, for God's sake. I freaking like caesar salad and I had ramen last night." Her expression challenged him to argue.

"Okay. Jesus." Sasuke said, raising his eyebrows.

He was starting to realize that he shouldn't be pegging her as anything.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Sakura said abruptly, getting up. Sasuke nodded. He watched her make her way to the back of the room, and watched the other guys who stared at her as she passed. He felt a surge of anger, looking at them, which was ridiculous. He had no more claim than they did.

Sakura was back a few minutes later. She sat down and turned to him, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "If I'm coming off as a total bitch, I'm sorry." Sakura sighed. Sasuke met her gaze, slightly surprised. "It's just that I haven't had particularly good experiences with guys lately."

He nodded. Why was that not surprising, for someone who looked like her?

"And I'm not really interested in a relationship." She said, looking at him. "I've sort of sworn off dating, at least for right now."

Of course. Well that was _great_ news. "Hn." He said, eyes narrowed.

She sighed. "Look, I didn't mean to lead you on or anything. I was just curious, I guess." She shrugged. Well, at least it wasn't completely one-sided, he thought with satisfaction.

"Tch. It's fine. It's just dinner, anyway."

She half-smiled again. He realized he'd never seen her _really_ smile, except for that one time with Kakashi. "So…What do you actually do? Besides drive around a broken Jaguar?" She asked.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm going to be a sophomore at KU." Technically he still had more than a month left of freshman year, but he was basically done with work for the rest of term.

"What are you studying?"

"Law. Doing an internship at a firm right now. My uncle's."

"That would explain the clothes." She said. "Not many people show up to the garage in button-downs and khakis."

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. "What about you?"

"I'll be a sophomore next year, too. But I'm taking classes at KCC. The rest of the time I work at the garage."

He frowned. "How long have you been working there?" Even though she was only his age, she had to have started a long time ago, to be as good as she was.

"Officially, two years. Unofficially, since I was thirteen." She shrugged.

He frowned. "How'd that happen?"

"Well…I live above the shop, for starters. And fixing cars was the only thing I ever really wanted to do. So Kakashi started teaching me."

Sasuke was pretty sure he knew the answer to this (considering Kakashi didn't look older than forty), but he couldn't help asking anyway. "He's not your…father, is he?"

"God, no. He's my godfather. I've lived with him since I was ten." She didn't elaborate, and Sasuke didn't ask her to. The last thing he wanted to do was ask about her parents; he of all people knew how dangerous a topic that could be.

But whatever the circumstances that had left her with Kakashi, he could tell she'd had it tough. It showed in her general demeanor, but also her face: the way she didn't smile easily, her sarcasm and general sharpness…and the depths behind her eyes. She had layers and a lock for every one, just like he did.

"So what are you studying?" He asked.

"Just general classes, right now. Psych, bio, world history. Math." She shrugged.

"You don't like them?" He frowned.

"No, they're fine, for the most part. But intro classes at KCC are hell. Three hundred people in one lecture hall and more than half of them don't want to be there. A bunch of the professors would rather be anywhere else, too. So it's not exactly a good time." KCC was the local community college; while its reputation wasn't terrible, it wasn't known for sending its students to high places (unlike Konoha University).

"Why don't you transfer?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled ruefully. "Why do you think? KU's _way_ out of my league, price-wise."

She was so blunt about things, and even though it made Sasuke feel like an idiot, he couldn't help liking her more for it.

"I guess I could go in for a scholarship, but at this point I don't mind anymore." She shrugged. "Honestly, I just want to be a mechanic. High expectations, I know. I mean, it's such a sexy job." She rolled her eyes.

"Tch." Sasuke said.

"So you want to be a lawyer?" Sakura asked.

_It's complicated. _"Yeah."

She raised her eyebrows, and either something had come across in his tone or she could read him like a book. A corner of her mouth slid upward. "I feel like the lawyer thing always runs in families." She said.

Sasuke realized he didn't mind her teasing him. Girls teased him all the time when they were flirting, but they did it so obnoxiously. Sakura had never flirted with him, not once. Maybe it was because she knew she didn't have to (he doubted she ever had to flirt to get someone interested), but Sasuke realized it was probably because his looks didn't have any power over her. She wasn't interested. Of course it was _this_ paradox: the one girl he was interested in wasn't interested in him.

"Hn. Probably." He shrugged. "My parents were both lawyers. So is my brother." His brother, the rich and famous attorney making it big in Ame, who assumed Sasuke would follow directly in his footsteps.

Sasuke had said 'were' when referring to his parents, and he knew Sakura had noticed because she'd frowned slightly. But like him, she hadn't said anything. It was some sort of mutual understanding between the two of them.

Their food arrived a moment later, with a different waitress. "Thanks, Ayame." Sakura said to her with the smile.

"You haven't been around much, Sakura!" The waitress, Ayame, said with a smile. "Anyway, enjoy your…Food." She glanced at Sasuke and winked at Sakura, who glared at her. Ayame just laughed and went to talk to the people at the table next to them.

"You know her?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I grew up coming here. Ichiraku is kind of a downtown hangout. You wouldn't know that since you're an uptown kid."

Sasuke frowned. "How did you know?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "The Jaguar's _kind of_ a big clue. Assuming you didn't steal it. And, well, your clothes. The fancy law firm. KU." She shrugged and grinned. "No offense, but it's pretty obvious."

Yeah, he was definitely an idiot. Of _course_ she could tell.

"And if you ask me if that's why I agreed to have dinner with you, I _will_ punch you." Sakura said. She fixed him with her intense green eyes, daring him to challenge her.

"I'm not that stupid." Sasuke muttered, glaring at her. He had a feeling that Sakura was the last person to take advantage of someone's money.

"Good. You know, you might actually make it off the asshole list." Sakura said thoughtfully. Her eyes were smiling.

"Should I be proud of that?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah. Especially since you were at the top of it a few days ago."

"Thanks." He muttered. Still, it wasn't like he could deny being an asshole when they'd first met.

"Okay, look, now I have to ask. How did the Jaguar happen?" There was a glint in Sakura's eyes, and even though their conversation had been mostly small talk, rather than anything personal, he could easily see how interested she was in cars.

"Eighteenth birthday present from my brother." Sasuke said.

"Wow." Sakura raised her eyebrows. "His choice or yours?"

"His. He knew I liked them, I'd told him about the model about six months before. Didn't expect him to actually buy it for me." Sasuke shook his head. Itachi did ridiculous things sometimes, despite the fact that he was a genius (which even Sasuke couldn't deny).

"That's crazy." Sakura said. "So he's your lawyer brother?"

"Yeah. In Ame." Sasuke knew his voice sounded slightly resentful.

Sakura seemed to notice it too. "So what speeds does it get up to?" She asked, changing the subject without making a big deal out of anything.

"I did ninety five on an empty highway last summer." Sasuke smirked. "Probably a stupid move, but Naruto wanted to try it."

She rolled her eyes. "_Wow_. You guys are idiots."

"Tch. He's worse." Sasuke said darkly.

Sakura took a bite of salad. "And I'm sure he'd say exactly the same thing about you."

"Hn. He owes me way too much." Sasuke said. The opposite was probably true too, but he wasn't going to mention that.

Sakura smiled slightly. "Look, about the Jaguar. I sort of modified a few things. There's a few clunky parts with that model, someone else brought one in about a year ago. It's nothing major, I wouldn't have said anything. I just wondered if you'd noticed anything."

Sasuke frowned. "Yeah…I did. It runs really smoothly now. Smoother than when I first got it."

Sakura looked satisfied. "Good."

"You seriously weren't going to tell me?"

"Hey, I figured you'd be angry if you found out, since I'm just some girl with no experience." She shrugged and smiled infuriatingly at him.

He glared at her. "You're still mad about that?"

"Of course I'm mad about it, it was fucking obnoxious."

"I said I was sorry." He muttered through narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, I know. I told you, you're nearly off the asshole list. The only other reason I would've told you about the mods would be as a big 'fuck you.' You know, if you were some misogynistic prick. Which you're not."

To his surprise, Sasuke almost smiled. "Wow."

"Hey, I've done it before." Sakura shrugged. She was so blasé about the whole thing, it made him like her even more. At this rate, he was going to be a total goner.

Actually, looking at her across the table…Sasuke was pretty sure he already was.

* * *

It was getting dark when they left the restaurant. "Where's your car?" He asked.

"Oh, I actually got a ride here with my friend. She works at the bar down the street."

"So you don't have a ride?"

She frowned at him. "Yeah, I do. I'm just going to go over there and wait until her shift's over."

"I'll drive you."

"No, seriously, it's fine."

"Sakura. Come on." He said it firmly.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Thanks."

"Ungrateful." He muttered, even though he was teasing. Jesus. Since when did he tease people?

"Shut up, asshole." Sakura said. "Wait, you didn't drive the Jaguar into downtown Konoha, did you?"

"No. Of course not. I've got two cars." They reached his Honda.

"Civic?" She asked him.

He nodded, and then frowned. "How can you tell so easily?"

"I don't know. It's sort of like learning any other kind of pattern, I guess. You start to recognize similar things. It took me awhile to get this good. Seeing so many cars go through the garage when I was younger definitely helped a lot."

He unlocked the car and she got into the passenger seat. "You keep your cars extremely clean." Sakura observed.

"Aa. I hate when it's messy."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Anyway, it made it nicer to work on. Sometimes you find, like, old French fries and stuff under the seats."

"That's disgusting."

"Yeah, you're telling me."

Sasuke realized that after only a few hours, the two of them had established some sort of casual banter. She really was easy to talk to, even though he knew there was a lot that she hadn't shared with him (then again, the opposite was true too).

They drove through the darkened streets. The repair shop was on the outskirts of Konoha, where the buildings started to thin out. He pulled up to the driveway. There was still a bright light on in the garage; the shop was dark, but Sasuke could see faint light in the rooms above.

"This is fine." Sakura said, unbuckling her seat belt.

"Thanks. For giving me a second chance or whatever." He said. _God I sound stupid. _

"Yeah. Look…" She turned to him. "Do you want to hang out again sometime?"

He raised his eyebrows, pushing down the ridiculous feeling in his chest.

Sakura tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears in an impossibly attractive way. "I'm probably a total hypocrite but I just…Had fun, tonight."

"Hn. Can I have your number?" He smirked.

She rolled her eyes and gave him another almost-smile. "Yeah. Sure. Swap phones?"

He handed over his cell phone; she punched in her number and then handed it back to him. He did the same with hers. It was battered and much older than his own. Her name was written on the back on a piece of duct tape.

Sakura poked her head in the passenger window after getting out of the car. "Thanks for the ride. And dinner, obviously." She smiled and then turned and started walking up to the shop. Half of him wanted her to turn around and say something, or even just wave, but she didn't (and he knew she wasn't going to). Still, he waited until she'd unlocked the door and disappeared inside before driving away.

Later that night, he took out his phone and stared at the number for a solid minute before typing in the name:

Sakura Haruno.

Somehow his life had been turned upside down in the course of two weeks by those two words. And that was something that he'd never admit, not to anyone, because this kind of thing _never_ happened to Sasuke Uchiha.

At least...Not until now.

* * *

**A/N: **_Read__, review, etc. I'd love to hear what you think so far. __Thanks :)_


	3. Link

Sasuke tapped his pencil on the desk, watching his Economics professor talk without much interest. He was saying something about opportunity cost, but Sasuke couldn't care less. Then he heard the word 'car' and looked up. Sakura's face had appeared in his mind.

_Jesus Christ, _he thought to himself angrily. _There's something seriously wrong with you. _

"For example, cars have a higher intrinsic value in rural areas, where there are no other transportation options, as opposed to in a city." The professor said. "Which leads me to my next point…"

Sasuke tuned him out again.

"You okay, Sasuke?" Juugo, sitting next to him, looked concerned.

"Fine. Why."

"You seem like you're thinking about something." Juugo said. "You usually pay attention." Which wasn't true, but Sasuke was good enough at faking it to not get called out. Today was different. He couldn't focus.

"He's just thinking about Sakura." Naruto said from Sasuke's other side with an evil grin.

Juugo frowned and asked, "Who's Sakura?" at the same time Sasuke said, "Shut up, dobe."

"She's a friend—" Naruto started to explain before Sasuke cut him off.

"We're not having this conversation." Sasuke muttered through gritted teeth. "There's nothing going on, anyway."

"Did I say there was something going on?" Naruto gave him an infuriating grin.

Sasuke just glared ahead.

"Well, if you sure...Can I come with you guys, the next time you hang out?"

"Who said anything about hanging out."

"Oh, you know. I just guessed." Naruto said with a shrug. He was still grinning. "So can I?"

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

* * *

He called Sakura later that night to ask about that weekend. She didn't pick up, and he listened to her voice mail. "Hi, this is Sakura. Leave a message."

Sasuke didn't leave one (he wasn't going to be that desperate).

An hour or two later, though, his phone buzzed. Sakura was calling him. Sasuke answered it on the second ring.

"Hi." He said.

"Hey…You called me earlier?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry, I was in the shop. I usually turn my phone off when I'm working."

"Yeah, no problem."

"So what's up?" She sounded relaxed.

"Do you want to hang out this weekend?"

"Uh, sure. Did you have anything in mind?"

"I don't know. We could get dinner again."

"Sure, sounds good."

"Do you mind if Naruto comes too?" Sasuke asked, feeling vaguely irritated about it (and knowing that was completely unreasonable).

"No, of course not! Wow, it'll be great seeing him after so long." Sakura said.

Sasuke felt a sudden twinge of jealousy about how happy she sounded at the prospect of Naruto coming. _Jesus, you're such an idiot. Why the hell are you _jealous_? _

_ Because she doesn't just want to see you. _

He rolled his eyes at himself. "Cool. You want to pick a place this time?"

"Sure. I'll text you, okay? I've gotta go, I'm meeting some friends."

Now he couldn't help feeling jealous of whomever she was spending time with. "Sure. See you."

"Bye." She hung up.

He was so angry with himself. Jealousy was revolting, and he wasn't about to feel that way about people. Sakura probably had tons of friends. Not just him.

_You're not even friends, either. You've known her for less than two weeks. _

Jesus Christ.

Sasuke glared at his computer screen and started typing an Economics essay for his next class.

Sakura texted him the next afternoon. **There's a good café on Maple Street. Want to meet there on Friday night? **

**Sure. I'll tell Naruto. **He wrote.

She didn't text him back; Sasuke hadn't expected her to.

* * *

"I can't believe you guys went to Ichiraku without me!" Naruto said when Sasuke told him where they were going on Friday afternoon. "I haven't been there in at least two weeks, we should've gone together!"

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and shouldered his backpack. "Come on, dobe." The two of them had been studying in the university library together, which (of course) had been a terrible idea. Sasuke worked best when he was alone, not to mention trying to do work at the same table as Naruto was ten times worse than with anyone else.

Particularly today, because the idiot wouldn't shut up about first his girlfriend, and now Sakura.

"Wow, it's gonna be so weird seeing Sakura-chan again!" Naruto said as they left the library and headed to Sasuke's car.

"Hn." Sasuke said. At this point he was way past exasperation at Naruto's excitement. He just ignored it.

Sasuke didn't respond to the nonstop talking on the way to the café and just rolled his eyes when Naruto jumped excitedly out of the car like a little kid.

They reached the café and waited outside. Sasuke knew the place, but had never been there. It was in the middle of town; neutral territory close to KU. It seemed like an artsy sort of place; there were murals on the brick walls outside and ivy crawling up the walls.

Sakura had said she could be there at five thirty, which was when he and Naruto had arrived. Sasuke was surprised she wasn't there before them; he could tell that she was a punctual person.

Five minutes later, he caught a glimpse of pink hair farther down the sidewalk, and then she appeared behind a large crowd of people. Naruto was practically bouncing up and down at the sight of her.

"Sakura!" He exclaimed loudly.

"Hi, Naruto." Sakura said.

Naruto gave her a huge bear hug, and Sakura laughed, clearly not disconcerted by his show of affection. Naruto released her. "I'm really sorry, Sakura-chan! I haven't seen you in so long!" He said.

"Yeah, it's been a long time." Sakura smiled at him, a real smile.

Naruto grinned.

Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Hi." She smiled slightly at him, too.

"Hey." He said.

"Thanks for inviting me along with you guys, Sakura-chan." Naruto said.

"I thought you invited yourself along, actually." Sakura said, grinning.

"What did you tell her, teme?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"I just said you wanted to come." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

"I assumed." Sakura said with a shrug.

"I promise I won't invite myself again." Naruto said immediately. Then he grinned mischievously. "Especially since I know you guys…Hit it off."

Sakura just raised her eyebrows for a moment, and then just shook her head. Sasuke cursed Naruto's total lack of tact. "It's fine. I wanted to see you too." Sakura said.

"But...You're not mad at me, are you, Sakura?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because we stopped talking."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "It's as much my fault as yours if we stopped talking. We went in totally different directions, didn't we?" She shrugged. "Anyway, it's good to see you now."

The three of them sat down at a table, Naruto talking to Sakura excitedly. Sasuke watched her watching Naruto; she was listening with a slightly amused smile. Clearly Naruto hadn't changed very much since she'd known him.

"Oh, you've gotta meet my girlfriend Hinata, too! You guys would get along really well." Naruto said.

"It's not Hinata Hyuga, is it?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, it is! How'd you know?"

"I know a few of her relatives is all." Sakura said with a shrug. Then she grinned. "So how long have you two been going out?"

"Almost two years." Naruto said with a grin.

"Wow, that's great." Sakura smiled. "So, what are you studying? I realized I don't even know what you're interested in anymore. Just don't tell me you still want to be president."

"Yeah, I do!" Naruto grinned. "But I don't have everything figured out, like teme." He punched Sasuke on the arm.

Sakura's mouth quirked upward and Sasuke had the feeling that she was laughing at both of them.

"I don't have everything figured out, dobe." Sasuke said in a low voice, glaring at Naruto.

"Well, _almost_ everything. You know what you're gonna major in and stuff."

_I thought I knew. _But Sasuke didn't want to think about that now.

"Hn." Was all he said.

"So what about you, Sakura-chan? What are you doing now? Teme told me all about you fixing his car." Naruto grinned.

"Did he?" Sakura smirked and Sasuke realized it was an impossibly attractive look, despite his annoyance at her tone. "So you know all about how sexist he was?"

"You've got to be kidding me." Sasuke muttered. He probably deserved this, but still.

"_What_? Teme! She'd better be joking!" Naruto turned to stare at Sasuke and made a fist.

"Of course I'm not joking." Sakura said coolly. But she grinned at Sasuke and he knew she wasn't holding it against him. Actually, he was surprised she was teasing him like this; she hadn't been this relaxed the first time. It was probably due to Naruto, who had the gift of making any situation comfortable. Sasuke could tell that he and Sakura were close, even if they hadn't seen each other in a long time.

Naruto punched him on the arm again.

"Jesus, dobe." Sasuke said, irritated.

"I hope you apologized, asshole!" Naruto said.

"Yeah, of course I apologized." Sasuke muttered.

"Did he, Sakura?" Naruto said.

"Would I be sitting here with you two if he hadn't?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Sasuke smirked and Naruto looked slightly intimidated before a smile spread over his face. "Yeah, you're right. Like always."

Sakura rolled her eyes but smiled.

* * *

They spent some of dinner reminiscing, which meant Sasuke was out of the loop, but he didn't mind. Apparently Naruto's elementary school years had been ten times more troublesome than his high school years (which honestly should'nt have been possible, but Sasuke wasn't surprised).

"So how's Jiraiya?" Sakura asked as they were getting up to leave over an hour later.

"Aw, he's the same. Still an old pervert." Naruto said. "I usually crash at his house on the weekends. My dorm room's pretty smelly." He grinned uncomfortably.

"I really _don't_ want to know." Sakura said.

"Well, Hinata-chan said she'd come and help me clean it up. So it's all good!"

"Her mistake." Sasuke muttered.

Sakura laughed. "Wait, you guys aren't roommates, are you?"

"God no." Sasuke said.

"Teme's got an apartment." Naruto said. "He's too good for the dorms."

"I should've known." Sakura said, her mouth quirking upward.

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke said, annoyed.

"Aw, I'm just kidding, teme." Naruto clapped him on the back.

"I _will_ punch you." Sasuke muttered.

The three of them stopped together outside the restaurant. It was starting to get dark.

"We have to hang out again, okay, Sakura-chan? Don't just hang out with teme." Naruto grinned and Sasuke glared at him.

"Don't worry, Naruto," Sakura rolled her eyes and then glanced at Sasuke. "I'm sure we'll see each other around."

"Awesome. Oh, I have to go meet Hinata-chan! She promised we'd go out when she'd finished her work!" Naruto frowned. "Do you guys mind if I leave?"

"No, go ahead." Sakura said, waving a hand. "It was good to see you, Naruto."

"Yeah, you too, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned and jogged off.

And then Sasuke and Sakura were left alone.

"You need a ride home?" He asked.

"No, I drove today, actually. My car's down by the park, I was over there before this. What about you?"

"That way too. On the corner up ahead."

"I guess we can walk each other then." Sakura said with a slight smile.

"Hn."

The two of them turned down a brightly lit street.

"So Naruto was the same when you knew him?" Sasuke asked her.

Sakura laughed. "Oh, yeah. Exactly the same. He's one person who I'm pretty sure is never going to change."

"Tch. That's for sure." Sasuke smirked.

"I'm starting to see why you two are best friends." Sakura said thoughtfully. "When you first said you knew him I thought it was ridiculous."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"But you kind of balance each other out. You know, he's got a sense of humor. You don't."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"So how long have you two been friends?" Sakura asked him.

"Freshman year of high school. It just sort of happened." Sasuke said. Honestly, he couldn't even figure out the exact moment it had started. Suddenly he'd just been friends with Naruto, and that was it.

"That's not surprising." Sakura said.

"Hn. I guess." Sasuke shrugged.

Sakura slowed down. "That's my car down on the corner." She said. He couldn't see what her car looked like; it was parked behind a huge SUV. "You don't have to come all the way, I can get there just fine." She gave him that same teasing smile and Sasuke felt his stomach flip over. Jesus.

"Tch. Fine." Sasuke said, even though he would've easily walked much farther past his own car.

They stopped for a minute, and Sakura glanced down at her beat-up black Chuck Taylors. "So..."

Sasuke smirked. "See you around?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll text you?"

"Sounds good."

Both of them stood there awkwardly for a moment, not sure what to say. Then Sakura rolled her eyes. "Okay. Bye."

"See you."

* * *

**A/N: **_It's been way too long, I should've written this a while ago and then that just didn't happen. Getting back into this story and I'm really excited for what's coming up. _

_Anyway, review and tell me what you think :) _


	4. Closed

Sakura Haruno had resolved a long time ago to take no bullshit from anyone. It had ended up being one of the best decisions of her life, despite the extent to which it drove people away.

Sakura was a kind person at heart, but years of people talking down to her and years of being underestimated had given her a tough skin and a short fuse as far as other people were concerned. She had a circle of close friends and the guys at the garage, and she considered both groups her family. And after her latest relationship and a short (and unsatisfying) series of dates, Sakura had decided that she didn't need anyone else.

But she couldn't help thinking about Sasuke Uchiha. As much as she didn't want to admit it, there was something about him. Despite coming from opposite lifestyles (it was laughable, really, how different their lives were), Sakura had sensed something in him that she recognized in herself. Beneath the surface, they had uncanny similarities; and somehow they just understood each other. She would say it was _on a deeper level_, if that wasn't so unbearably cliché.

"So who was that guy you were out with?" Kiba asked. The two of them were in the garage alone on Monday, doing an early morning waxing job on someone's Camaro.

"His name's Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura said, rubbing at a stubborn grease mark.

"Yeah, I know, I saw him at the garage when he was here." Kiba grinned. "You like him?"

Sakura just gave him a look and Kiba held up his hands in mock-surrender. "He's a friend of a friend. We just had dinner." She said.

"So you _do_ like him."

"Jesus Christ. No, I don't. Or, I don't know. I thought he was a total asshole when we first met, but now…I don't think so."

"I see." Kiba smirked and loaded up his rag with more polish.

"We're not going to talk about this anymore." Sakura said, vaguely annoyed. She attacked the grease mark even harder.

"Fine. Whatever." Kiba grinned.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Anyway, how's Fuki?" She asked.

"Eh. I don't think it's gonna last. She complains about _everything_."

"Don't draw it out too long." She warned him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not an idiot." Kiba sighed. "Why are all the decent girls my friends?"

"Oh yeah, sucks to be you." Sakura rolled her eyes. "There's plenty of people out there. What about that girl in your Econ class?"

"Hotaru? I'm pretty sure she's got a boyfriend. Some guy in the music program." Kiba sighed.

"Oh my God, stop feeling so sorry for yourself." Sakura said. "You just need to go out and meet people."

"Coming from the girl who never goes out and meets people."

"You know full well why I don't go out and meet guys." Sakura said in a low voice. "It's a nightmare."

"Yeah. Sorry." Kiba went back to polishing in silence.

But few minutes later, he couldn't stop himself from bringing up Sasuke again. "So…Did you guys hit it off?" He smirked. "You know, after you totally kicked his ass."

He was the second person to use that phrase, after Naruto a few days before, and Sakura couldn't help thinking that it was strange.

Sakura rolled her eyes but figured she shouldn't deny it. "Yeah, we kind of did. I was thinking I'd bring him to the fire pit on Saturday night."

"Oh, wow." Kiba raised his eyebrows, looking interested. "So you _really_ hit it off."

"God, shut up." Sakura said. "I told you, he's just a friend."

"Yeah, but this is a big step."

"Right. Especially because you brought Fuki last time, and you guys are _really_ serious."

"Good point." Kiba said, looking slightly embarrassed. He finished polishing his side of the car and leaned back on the concrete floor. "Wait, this guy's not a KCHS kid, is he?"

"No. Academy." Sakura said.

"That's what I figured. Didn't think I'd ever seen him before." Kiba frowned and then started to put away the sponges.

Sakura frowned at him for a moment before going back to her section of the car. She paused for a moment and blew a few strands of hair off her forehead. "What time do you have to be at school?"

"I've got Bio at eleven. What about you?"

"Psych at one."

"I'd give you a ride, but getting there two hours early is probably a waste of time."

"No, I was planning to go in earlier, anyway. I told Ino I'd meet her for lunch. We have to study for the final and she's busy tonight."

"_Ino's_ studying for the final?"

Sakura glared at him. "You are such a jerk."

"I'm joking. I promise!" Kiba held up his hands at Sakura's cold glare.

"Don't even." Sakura shook her head. "If you make any more fucking stupid jokes, I _will_ dump this bucket of water on your head."

"Point made." Kiba said.

Sakura finished her side and Kiba waited while she packed up her own sponges and the large bottle of wax. He rolled up his sleeves and picked up the two buckets of water.

"So are you going to get that new tattoo?" Sakura asked him as they walked back to the storage room, glancing at his arm.

Kiba shrugged. "I don't think so. Not enough room." He grinned and looked down at the full sleeves of ink on his arms.

"Touché." Sakura said. "Don't start piling them on top of each other."

"I'm not a _total_ idiot." Kiba said.

"Wow. It took you a long time to admit that."

"Admit what?"

"That you're a partial idiot. Well, more than partial."

"I swear to God…"

Sakura grinned. "Come on. Let's go to school."

* * *

Sakura changed out of her dirty work clothes while Kiba got his car. She ran into Kakashi in the kitchen of their apartment.

"You're up late." She said with a grin, glancing at the clock. It was ten thirty.

"I've been up since seven doing paperwork." Kakashi said. "And I don't remember when I gave _you_ permission to comment on my sleeping habits." He smirked underneath his bandana.

Sakura rolled her eyes and shoved her books into her backpack. "I'm going to school with Kiba, I'll be back by four. Do you still need me to fix the doors on that Toyota?"

"That'd be great."

Sakura nodded and swung her backpack over her shoulders.

"Hey," Kakashi fixed her with a frown. "Don't just walk out. Did you eat breakfast?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and then smiled slightly. "Yeah, early this morning. And I'm meeting Ino for lunch. So don't worry."

"I have to check, you know." Kakashi said.

"Yeah. I'll see you later."

"Have a good day." Kakashi said with an infuriating smile.

Sakura just shook her head.

* * *

Kiba drove them both to school and Sakura went to meet Ino, her best friend, in one of the school dining halls. The two of them spent almost two hours talking and studying, which meant Sakura got to her Intro to Psychology class with about a minute to spare. Her Psych professor was the only teacher she had who cared about being on time.

"Hey, babe." An idiot from her world history class was waiting outside the classroom when Sakura arrived. One of the assholes who couldn't take a hint.

"Fuck off." Sakura said, not even looking at him as she walked past.

She made her way to an empty chair at the back of the lecture hall, getting the customary looks on the way back.

It was always a quick glance; they always tried to be subtle (key word: tried). Eyes sliding down her torso, and then looking away. Never eye contact. She'd read somewhere that making eye contact with someone showed that you were acknowledging their existence. When she'd first thought about it, Sakura had thought that was clever and so true. Like that acknowledgement was a good thing.

It was bullshit, and Sakura had figured it out after she'd gotten enough leers to make her realize that people were acknowledging an existence that she didn't want or deserve.

She'd been to enough repair shops with Kakashi, on various trips, where the only decorations on garage walls were pages torn from porn calendars. Kakashi had been angry about it every time (he'd alway apologized to her), but she never blamed him for it (how could she? Kakashi didn't think like that, thankfully). Sakura had stopped being surprised by all of it a long time ago.

People had stopped messing with her in high school (it had only taken a few slaps) but starting college had meant that she had to deal with the same thing all over again. And unlike in high school, information spread much slower among fifteen thousand people than it did among fifteen hundred.

"Mind if I sit here?" The douchebag from the door was back. Of course.

"Yeah. I do." Sakura said, staring ahead.

"Aw, come on..." He whined.

That was it. Sakura just looked at him, expressionless. It had taken practice, but now she could detach herself from all of it. "Go fuck yourself."

He looked offended, and Sakura felt slightly more satisfied. He slunk off to find another seat and she turned to face the front of the classroom just as the professor walked in.

* * *

She had time after Psych before Kiba finished class, so Sakura decided to just call Sasuke. Something about talking to people was always better than texting. So later that afternoon she hoisted herself up onto one of the walls outside the Science building. It was a quieter section of campus, away from the hordes of people that always congregated by KCC's rundown athletic center and the quad.

He answered the phone on the third ring. "Hey."

Sakura had to admit, he had an incredibly attractive voice. Along with an incredibly attractive appearance, but that had no relevance whatsoever. She'd made her feelings clear to him, and she wasn't having any second thoughts about it.

"Hey. Look, do you want to hang out on Saturday night? There's a big fire pit at the park, we hang out there some nights. You can meet some of my friends."

"Yeah. Sure." Sasuke said.

"Cool. Is five thirty okay to meet? You can come over to the garage and I'll drive."

"Sounds good."

Sakura swung her legs back and forth. "Great. See you then?"

"Aa. See you."

* * *

Sakura met Kiba back at the parking lot outside the Student Center and the two of them went back to the garage.

"Asuma moved the Camry over to your station." Kiba said when she came into the garage after changing back into work clothes. He was pulling on old, battered sneakers. "He started working on it earlier."

"Cool. Is he still here or did he go home?"

"He left literally ten minutes ago." Genma stuck his head out from behind the body of a small Mercedes. "You need him for something?" He was chewing on the ever-present toothpick in his mouth.

"I just wanted to see his notes on the Camry. Whatever, it's fine." Sakura waved a hand.

"Hey, Sakura...You think you could help me with the engine on this thing when you're free? I've never worked with something like this before." Genma said. "Not really sure what's wrong."

"Sure. Actually…" Sakura thought for a moment. "Do you want to swap? I'm pretty sure it's just the locking system on the Camry that's broken. You can do that and I'll do the engine."

Genma looked relieved. "You'd do that?"

Sakura shrugged. "Yeah, I don't mind." Her fingers were itching for something more technical; fixing bent-up locks didn't count.

"That'd be great." Genma said with a grin. "I'll do it now. Tell me what you did on the engine, though, or Kakashi'll have my ass."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sure."

She pulled on a pair of gloves and plunged herself into repairs. She pieced through the wiring as she read over the notes that Genma had made, tuning out the music and the sound of a drill from the other side of the garage.

For some reason she kept thinking about Sasuke. It was something in his eyes that intrigued her; they were black and bottomless and she couldn't really figure him out, which was unusual. She pegged people soon after meeting them (which she _knew_ wasn't a good idea), but everything she'd thought about Sasuke had been proved wrong so far. Well, almost everything. He was still completely arrogant, but he wasn't an asshole. Well, not really.

Suddenly Sakura found the engine problem, and Sasuke slipped out of her head.

"Genma," she called.

"What's up?"

"It's just a clogged filter."

"Shit. You serious?"

"Of course I'm serious."

"Well _now_ I feel like an idiot."

"To be fair it was hidden pretty well. I had to take apart some of the wiring, but it should be fine now."

"God. I still feel like an idiot. Thanks a lot, though. I'll go and test it before I leave."

Besides Kiba, Genma was the newest addition to the small group of mechanics working under Kakashi. He was just out of trade school, and was technically apprenticed to Asuma, one of the more experienced mechanics (he'd been working with Kakashi since he'd started the business). Kiba was also Asuma's apprentice, though that was a much less official agreement. Iruka, who was slightly younger than Kakashi, rounded out the group at the garage.

Sakura went back over to the Camry to help Genma finish up, feeling re-energized after fixing the engine problem. She always felt better when she was working. Any stupid stuff that had happened today was already far away in her mind.

Then again, she always felt better when she was here, no matter what bullshit came up sometimes. However atypical, this place was home.

* * *

**A/N: **_Primarily Sasuke's POV in this story, but I'm g__oing to intersperse some Sakura chapters :) _

_Review if you follow/favorite. Thanks._


	5. Feud

Sasuke pulled into the garage just as the sun was setting on Friday night; Sakura was already outside waiting for him.

"Your car?" He asked.

"Yeah. You don't mind me driving, do you?" Her mouth quirked upward.

"Of course not." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

Because cars were what she lived and breathed, he couldn't help being curious about what kind of car Sakura drove.

He followed her around the back of the shop to a small parking lot, and a little blue pickup truck came into view. "It was a present from Kakashi for my seventeenth birthday," Sakura explained. "Well, sort of. It wouldn't even start. Everything was broken, someone thought it was a lost cause."

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah. Kakashi told me it was mine if I fixed it up, so I did." She grinned. "It took a few months, but I got there in the end. And added some modifications." She patted the hood affectionately.

"Should be different with you in the passenger seat for once," Sakura said with a grin as she hopped into the driver's seat.

"Tch." Sasuke said. He slid in and looked around. The interior was extremely clean except for a few papers on the floor; there was a large box of tools on the backseat.

Sakura glanced over at him. "Put on your seatbelt." She said seriously.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows but obeyed her, and Sakura pulled out of the driveway.

* * *

He hadn't expected anything different, but she was an extremely good driver. Part of it was the way the car ran (like with his own, it was obvious that Sakura knew what she was doing where modifications were concerned), but there were no jolting stops or screeching brakes; she drove the speed limit, calmly.

Maybe he was just too used to driving with Naruto. That was a scary thought.

After about ten minutes they reached a turnoff with a dilapidated sign that read 'Konoha Community Park.' Sakura pulled into a small dirt lot where several other cars were parked, along with a few motorcycles.

"How many people are going to be here?" Sasuke asked her as they got out.

"Um...Almost everyone usually shows up. So, like, ten people?" She grinned. "Don't worry. They're my high school friends, but none of them bite."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He liked to think he wasn't easily intimidated, even though he had no idea of the kind of people Sakura hung out with.

Sakura laughed. "Hey, I figured I'd say it just in case. Anyway, it's this way." She headed toward a path that disappeared into the woods. Sasuke followed her up a slope and fifteen minutes later they came out into a small clearing. Several benches circled around a large fire pit in the middle, and a thin boundary of trees gave way to a huge, sloping field. Sasuke was struck for a moment by the view.

About half of the benches where occupied by people, but the only person Sasuke recognized was Kiba, the brown haired guy from the repair shop. A lot of them wore leather jackets and motorcycle-type gear.

Sasuke wondered for a moment whether Sakura was part of some kind of gang.

_God_. He was being ridiculous. And to think he thought he was above common stereotypes.

"Hey, Sakura." One of the guys said. He was lounging on the ground, and a girl with a long blonde ponytail was sitting in his lap.

"Hi, Shikamaru. Hey, guys."

"Is this the hunk you were talking about, Forehead?" The blonde girl asked, a wicked smile twisting her lips as she looked at Sasuke.

Sakura shot the girl a glare. "Jesus. I never said anything about a hunk."

"Well clearly you should've, because hot _damn_."

"Anyway," Sakura said forcefully. "This is Sasuke. Sasuke, this is…everyone. Or, almost everyone. You guys want to introduce yourselves?"

"But I'm Tenten." The only other girl, a brunette with two buns sitting on the far left, said with a little wave.

"Neji." A guy with longish black hair and pale eyes (who bore a strangely close resemblance to Naruto's girlfriend Hinata) said expressionlessly.

"Kiba. Saw you at the shop." Kiba nodded at him.

"Shino." The boy sitting next to Kiba, who wore dark sunglasses, said.

"I'm Sai. It's nice to meet you." The pale guy next to Shino said. He was holding a sketchpad and looked to be drawing something.

"Shikamaru." The ponytailed guy said. "And you've already met Ino."

"I can introduce myself, you know." The blonde girl, Ino, said.

Sasuke saw Sakura roll her eyes.

"Anyway, make yourself at home, Sasuke." Shikamaru said. Sakura sat down on the bench next to Ino and Sasuke followed her.

"Where are Lee and Chouji?" Sakura asked.

"Chouji's visiting his aunt. I don't know about Lee." Shikamaru said, yawning.

"He went to the track for a last minute practice." Tenten said. Then she looked at Sakura with a slight smile. "So are you guys, uh…Together?"

"Jesus, no. We're just friends." Sakura said. "I told you, I'm done with dating."

Not for the first time, Sasuke wondered what had caused Sakura to swear off romantic relationships.

"Well, you never know." Shino said, lying back and looking up at the sky.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"So how'd you guys meet?" Tenten asked.

"She was working on my car." Sasuke said.

"And he was a total asshole about it." Sakura added. Sasuke glared at her.

Tenten laughed.

"You're not a KCHS kid, are you?" Neji asked suddenly, staring at Sasuke. His pale eyes were eerily intense.

"No—" Suddenly, Sasuke felt uncomfortable with where he was coming from. He'd been a rich kid, going to Konoha Academy, the opposite (not in an offensive way) of Sakura and her friends. "Academy."

"I figured. Would've seen you around." Shikamaru said.

"You'd better not be a pretentious jerk." Tenten said mildly.

What was he supposed to say to that?

"Most of the time he's fine. Until someone touches his car." Sakura said.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Kiba snorted.

"So are you at KU?" Tenten asked him, looking genuinely interested. She was friendly and open and (at least from what Sasuke could tell) the opposite of Neji, who looked to be her boyfriend. Sasuke vaguely wondered how that relationship had come about, but then again…People always said that opposites attracted (still, he knew that wasn't always the case).

Sasuke nodded. "Going to be a sophomore."

"I wish I had gotten into KU." The guy with sunglasses, Shino, said.

"Well, bullshit classes in high school tend to not do anything for your prospects." Sakura said, sitting back and crossing her legs.

"Unless you're Neji." Ino said, rolling her eyes. "KU's obligated to take the geniuses even if they're from the crap part of town."

"Really, Ino." Neji said, glaring at her.

"Hey, I'm just being honest." Ino said.

"Can you guys _not_ argue?" Shikamaru said. "It's a drag to listen to."

"Yeah, Shikamaru's right. And we might reinforce our reputation." Tenten said. "Sasuke's new, remember? He's Academy. We're probably the first downtown kids he's ever met."

Sasuke wanted to contradict her, but he realized he couldn't. "Hn." He said instead. "Did you all go to KCHS?"

"Oh yeah." Ino said.

"Our reputation's improved if you can't tell." Shikamaru said darkly, but he smirked and the rest of them laughed.

Sasuke looked questioningly at Sakura.

"It's the leather," Sakura said with a grin. "People brand you as KCHS if they see you in a leather jacket or whatever. Or with a motorcycle. Assuming you look like you're in high school."

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, it used to just happen if they saw you running after someone with a knife, but now it's become more subtle." Shikamaru said, sounding bored.

"I mean, we have to keep up our reputation to scare away the Academy kids." Ino said.

"They're joking." Sakura said with a sigh.

"Yeah, they're already scared away by our knock-off clothes." Tenten said. "KCHS's fashion sense is disgraceful."

"_Hey_." Ino said sharply. "I happen to have the best fashion sense that a clearance rack has _ever_ seen."

"Ino. Take a joke for once." Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes.

There had always been a sort of feud between KCHS and Academy kids. They came from the two sides of the social spectrum; it was downtown and uptown (and KCHS kids had always had a bad reputation). Obviously half of it was rumor, and to be honest Sasuke had never thought about KCHS kids that much, except when he saw them around town. The two groups didn't mix, and after high school Academy kids almost always went to Konoha University or transferred to Suna or Iwa. Most KCHS kids went to Konoha Community College, if they went to college at all. Some went to KU, but Sasuke didn't know too many. Not that he made an effort to get to know many people.

Still, even Sasuke couldn't help comparing Sakura's friends to the KCHS kids of most people's imagination: gang members, delinquents, the lowest common denominator in society. Downtown Konoha had always had problems with gang violence, and KCHS kids had always been blamed. It was an inner city school, unlike Academy, which had a campus on the outskirts of the city complete with wrought iron gates (Konoha Academy was the epitome of a privileged private school). Academy students had spread the reputation of KCHS kids just as much as the news did, even though most of them hadn't even come into contact with KCHS students. Actually, they stayed away from them on principle.

Sasuke had caught the sense of animosity about Konoha Academy (it was fairly obvious, even if they joked about it) from Sakura's friends, but there had been very little hostility towards him personally. Obviously Sakura's good opinion (or just the fact that she'd brought him with here) was a large influence, but they didn't seem like the kind of people to judge him on face value.

Suddenly Sasuke felt a rush of hatred towards his former school. He'd never really questioned the way people thought; he hadn't been involved enough to care.

"If you were Academy then you may know my cousin. Hinata Hyuga." Neji said.

Well that made sense. "Yeah. I don't know her well but she's dating one of my friends."

"Naruto Uzumaki." Neji said.

"You never said your cousin was dating anyone!" Tenten said, nudging him playfully.

"Was it relevant?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Then Tenten's tone turned slightly more serious. "You _do_ still talk to her, right?"

"Of course I still talk to her. Her family is a different matter, but Hinata and I are on cordial terms."

Tenten nodded, and then there was an awkward pause.

"Okay, can we get some food here? I'm starving." Kiba said.

Tenten frowned, and then pulled out a bag of marshmallows and threw it at him. "Here you go, you ungrateful pig. Apparently you completely forgot about the graham crackers, so thanks a lot."

"Oh, shit." Kiba said. "I was supposed to bring those, wasn't I?"

"_Yeah_." Tenten said.

"Excellent job, Kiba." Shino said.

"Shut up, Shino." Kiba said. "You don't have to rub it in."

The rest of them laughed. Kiba passed around the bag, and Sakura handed a few marshmallows to Sasuke.

"Thanks." He said.

"No problem." She said with a smile, and Sasuke realized she was as relaxed here as she'd been with Naruto, if not more.

They were all so relaxed, actually. Suddenly Sasuke realized that had his life been different, these were the people he probably would've hung out with at school.

"Are any of you guys going to Idate's party next week?" Tenten asked as she speared a marshmallow on the end of a stick.

"_Hell_ yes." Ino said immediately.

"Apparently yeah, we are." Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me." Ino said, punching him on the shoulder.

"What about you, Sakura?" Tenten asked.

"Nope." Sakura said, pulling her marshmallow out of the fire.

"Seriously, Forehead? One party?" Ino said incredulously.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura.

"No. No parties. Not now, at least. Maybe during the summer." Sakura rolled her eyes. "And _don't_ say anything, Pig."

"I wasn't going to." Ino said, holding up her hands. Sasuke couldn't help raising his eyebrows at the nicknames.

"Well I'm gonna go." Kiba said.

"By yourself?" Ino arched an eyebrow. "Because _please_ tell me you broke up with Fuki."

Kiba glared at her. "Is _nothing_ sacred with all of you?"

"Of course not. We're a family." Tenten said matter-of-factly. "Excepting Sasuke. Sorry." She gave him an apologetic smile.

"Hn. It's fine." Sasuke said.

"I'd still rather not talk about my personal life." Kiba muttered.

"Whatever. I'm just saying..."

"Yeah, I get it, Ino." Kiba said. "We've been through this before, haven't we?"

"You really need to learn how to use subtlety, Ino." Shikamaru said, yawning.

"It's not that I don't know how to use it," Ino said, irritated, "I just prefer being blunt. Why waste time doing anything else?"

"I agree." Sai said.

"Me too." Sakura said, leaning back.

* * *

The bag of marshmallows circled around until it was empty. Looking around at all of the faces silhouetted against the fire, Sasuke realized (not for the first time) that he really didn't know much about Sakura or what her life was really like. Even though he'd just met them, Sakura's friends gave off the sense that they'd been through a lot together.

An hour or two later, everyone started getting ready to go. The sun was fully down and the surrounding landscape was almost completely dark.

Sakura stood up. "You ready to go?" She asked Sasuke with a smile that made his stomach do the tiniest flip.

"Aa."

They all walked back to the parking lot in a group, talking and laughing.

"It was good to meet you, Sasuke!" Tenten said, smiling at him.

"You too." Sasuke said.

"Feel free to come by again, man." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah. Any time." Ino batted her eyes and Shikamaru sighed. Sakura rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

They all said their goodbyes to each other, and Sasuke was caught up for a moment in a conversation with Sai. Sakura was no longer standing next to him; he looked around and saw her standing with Ino by a large black motorcycle.

"Call me tomorrow, okay?" Ino was saying.

"Sure." Sakura said. "Are we still meeting for dinner?"

"Oh my God, yes." Ino said. "I totally forgot. How did I totally forget? Whatever. Is that still good for you?"

"Yeah, of course. As long as you turn down the obnoxiousness by then."

"I was really obnoxious tonight, wasn't I?" Ino grinned. "Whoops. I think I'm just tired."

He saw Sakura roll her eyes. "Honestly."

"Alright, I'm going to go find Shikamaru. Six at Ichiraku?"

"Sounds great."

Ino whispered something that Sasuke couldn't hear, and then Sakura rolled her eyes again. She said something back, shook her head, and then came back to join Sasuke.

"Sorry for making you wait," she said with a slight grin.

"It's fine." Sasuke said. He watched Ino climb on the back of the motorcycle, behind Shikamaru.

Sakura followed his gaze and shook her head. "Shikamaru's one of the smartest people I know, and yet he still owns a _motorcycle_." She rolled her eyes. "Ino won't even make him get rid of it."

"Tch." Sasuke said.

Honestly, Sakura's friendship with Ino surprised him. Other than their bluntness, it felt like the two of them couldn't be any more different. Ino was a total flirt, the opposite of Sakura, and she struck Sasuke as one of the girls in high school who partied hard and hooked up with guys just because she could. Ino wasn't his type, but she was Barbie doll gorgeous (in a more conventional way than Sakura, but stunningly attractive nonetheless). He wondered how the two of them had ever become friends.

Then again he probably shouldn't be surprised, considering his friendship with Naruto.

The two of them got into Sakura's car and she pulled out of the parking lot onto the dark road. He wasn't sure if he should, but Sasuke couldn't help asking her something. "What's going with Neji and Hinata?"

Sakura smiled twistedly. "Oh right, that must've looked strange. I forgot you probably don't know anything about them."

"Hn."

"Alright. The Hyuga are one of those old money families," Sakura explained as she turned down a brighter side street. "You know, bankers or investors for the past hundred years or something. Except Neji's from this secondary branch who did something, I don't know what, a really long time ago that lost them their fortune, and then forced them to work under the main family because they had no money. Then they quit and tried to start their own firm, but they never had the same success. Ever since then there's been this feud, because the main family considered them a lower rank even though they were relatives. There's still a big rift because the one family are, well, filthy rich and they know it. I'm probably not the best person to be explaining this because I don't know the whole story but they still don't associate with each other. You know, it's uptown and downtown."

"Hn. That's ridiculous."

Sakura shrugged. "Yeah, well, that's the way the world works, isn't it? Anyway, Neji and Hinata are the heirs to both family businesses, which means Neji's obligated to work under Hinata some day. He had this burning hatred for their family until high school, but then he actually met Hinata for the first time. She's apparently just a really good person and the two of them started talking regularly without their parents knowing. So I think by the time they take over, the whole system's going to change because neither of them want to continue the old world feud thing."

"Wow." Was all Sasuke said. He'd had no idea things were this ingrained in society. But that just showed how separated he'd been from all of it. He'd never thought of himself as sheltered, but that was the only way to describe the way life was at Academy.

He felt like a total idiot, actually. But around Sakura, that wasn't a new feeling.

"Yeah," Sakura said, "So I guess we have a chance of changing some things, at least." She sighed a world-weary sigh and frowned out the window, and Sasuke wondered what she was thinking about.

* * *

**A/N: **_Sooo...Reviews would be great. Thanks :) _


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